Not As Expected
by sandersonsister
Summary: Oikawa had expected to meet his soulmate in a certain way. He did not expect to meet them because of Kageyama.


Oikawa had always dreamed of meeting his soulmate. He had dreamed about running into them one day, maybe at a volleyball game or the beach, hell, maybe even at the supermarket and the two of them instantly connecting. They would stare into each other's eyes and move toward one another slowly. They wouldn't even need to see the marks that graced the others skin. They would just know.

Iwa-chan told him he was an idiot – that it didn't work like that. The marks just helped you, they just pointed you in the right direction. You still had to get to know your soulmate the same way you did anyone else. You still had to work for the relationship. Everything wouldn't just magically work out.

But Oikawa didn't believe him. He didn't want to believe him. He had seen plenty of movies and read even more books that said the opposite.

The first time he thought Iwa-chan might have been right was when he watched his senior in middle school meet his soulmate. The two of them fought constantly, barely able to be the in the same room with one another for more than a few minutes without getting on each other's nerves. But that was only one couple. One out of many. Mistakes happen.

Then it was his sister. His older sister, who had met her soulmate years before, who had gotten married to her soulmate and had a child, announced she was getting divorced. That the two had rushed into a relationship and it wasn't working. That her husband, her soulmate, had found someone else.

That was a blow Oikawa wasn't expecting. His sister and her husband had met each other in high school and married straight out. How could he find someone else? Oikawa's sister was literally his soulmate, the one person on the planet he was supposed to be with, the person that would understand him like no one else.

So, Oikawa's faith in soulmates was officially shaken. He wasn't sure what to think. His parents were mark matched and they had a great relationship. But his sister…

It was at this point that Oikawa met Kageyama Tobio. A first year setter. A first year genius setter. Someone that could, one day, surpass Oikawa.

He hated it.

He threw himself into practice, pushing himself harder and harder. He ignored his family, coach, and even Iwa-chan when they told him to slow down. That he was going to end up hurting himself.

It was at the end of his second year, right after they lost to Shiatorizawa again, that it happened.

He had stayed late at practice, practicing his serve, when he jumped and instinctively knew something was wrong. He felt off balance. He fell to his feet, landing hard, and jolting his knee. With a loud cry, he fell to the floor, hands moving toward his leg. He could barely breathe and he knew tears were falling down his face. He needed help.

Iwa-chan found him like that almost an hour later. Oikawa knew his mother would have called his childhood friend when he didn't show up by curfew and he didn't answer his phone. He also knew Iwa-chan would head to the school and pull him away from his practice, lecturing the entire time. It happened often enough.

But when Iwaizumi walked in that night, lecture already on his lips, he was met with a sight he had really hoped he would never see.

"Oikawa?!" Iwa-chan yelled as the door slid open, instantly running to his best friend's side.

"It hurts," Oikawa managed to say, hands still pressed against his knee.

It took weeks of staying off of his leg and months of physical therapy before he was allowed back on the court. Even then, he had to keep a brace on his knee and be careful with how he practiced. His team watched him carefully, especially Iwa-chan. If he so much as winced, he found himself on the bench.

He officially gets cleared for the first practice game the day Aobajosai takes on Karasuno. He walked into the gym that day to find out that not only is his team losing, they've already lost one game. He scowled internally as he warms up, keeping his eye on Karasuno's first year setter. Kageyama is as good as ever.

They lost, of course, but Oikawa knows that his team didn't play to their full potential. How could they? He wasn't there to help. He didn't get to play against Tobio, not fully. This match had no value in their competition.

"Give it a rest, Trashykawa," Iwa-chan said as Oikawa stated just that a few days later, "the only competition is the one in your head. Leave Kageyama out of it."

Oikawa scowled at his best friend angrily. Iwaizumi had always been overly fond of the first year setter and it had always annoyed him.

"He wants to beat me, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa whined.

"He wants to be like you," Iwaizumi said flatly. "He looked up to you in middle school and he still does. You're the one making it more than it is."

It was those words, those words that had been echoing in his head. Those were the words that caused Oikawa to do something he never thought he would do.

He picked up the phone when Tobio-chan called.

He wasn't even sure why he still had his number – he should have deleted it when he was no longer his captain in middle school. Yet, for some reason, he had never gotten around to it. "Tobio-chan," Oikawa greeted, his voice lacking the excitement it usually held.

"Oikawa," Kageyama greeted in his usual monotone. "We just played a round of practice matches with Nekoma."

Oikawa waited, confused, for the reason Kageyama deigned to call him. He knew that Nekoma was a school in Tokyo, knew that they were almost on equal footing with his own team. A powerhouse school that hadn't been to nationals in a few years. When twenty second had passed in silence, Oikawa let out a frustrated huff. "Eh? Why did you call me about that? Did you lose?"

"That wasn't why I – I mean, we did, but that wasn't-" Oikawa smirked at this information while Kageyama continued to stutter. "I called because I – did you –"

Kageyama broke off and Oikawa felt his smirk grow. "Tobio-chan, I'm busy! If you want to ask me something, ask."

"I don't want to ask you – I think I saw your soulmark!" Kageyama finally blurted out.

Oikawa's smirk dropped instantly and he knew his eyes had narrowed. "Tobio-chan, we were on the same volleyball team. I've seen your soulmark as well."

"That isn't what I meant! I saw it on someone else!"

Oikawa froze, running the words over in his head. Sure, he knew Kageyama had most likely seen his soulmark. He didn't hide it and it was on his right forearm, so it wasn't like it was easy to miss. But he had also seen Kageyama's, and most of his teammates both present and past, and he if he saw one of their marks on someone else, he wouldn't be one hundred percent sure.

"Are you sure?" Oikawa said lowly.

"Yes."

He sounded sure. But this was Kageyama. He wasn't the smartest kid Oikawa had met.

"Who?"

"Nekoma's captain."

Oikawa frowned. His team didn't have contact with Nekoma. They had never had a practice match and he had never made it to Nationals…not that Nekoma had either, in the past three years. So if it was true, Oikawa had no way of verifying.

"What's his name?"

"I don't remember."

"Did you tell him?"

"No."

"Do you have any information? Phone number? What does he look like?"

"No number. He's tall. Blocks well."

Oikawa felt like slamming his head against a wall. "And how am I supposed to get in contact with him, Tobio-chan?"

"Oh," Kageyama paused, "I didn't think of that."

Oikawa didn't bother responding, he just ended the call and fell onto his bed. Of course Kageyama of all people found his possible soulmate, and of course the kid didn't bother to get any information. Hell, he didn't even remember his name!

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa whined a few seconds later when his best friend answered his call. "Tobio-chan called me-"

"What the hell?"

"-and said he met my soulmate! But he didn't get any information!"

There was silence for a moment before Iwaizumi began to laugh. Oikawa pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it disdainfully. "It isn't funny!"

"Like hell it isn't!" Iwaizumi gasped. Oikawa could just picture the tears in his best friends eyes as he struggled to stop laughing. "What did he know?"

"He's the captain of Nekoma's volleyball team. He's tall. And he blocks well," Oikawa muttered.

Iwaizumi's laughter intensified. "Well, you got a little bit of information, anyway."

"Iwa-chan!"

In the end, Oikawa ended up calling Karasuno's captain and asking if he had a number for Nekoma's captain.

"Kuroo? Why would you want to talk to him?" Daichi-san asked, sounding confused.

Kuroo? Well, at least he had a name.

"I need to check something," Oikawa answered vaguely. After all, he wasn't actually sure this person was his soulmate. He only had Kageyama's word to go on, after all.

Daichi didn't respond for a moment and Oikawa was almost certain he was going to say no. "Let me ask him," Daichi finally said. "I don't want to give out his number without his permission."

"Okay!" Oikawa said quickly, knowing that was probably the best he would get. "Or, if he wants, you can give him mine and he can contact me! I just need to…ask him something Tobio-chan told me."

"Kageyama?" Now Daichi sounded even more confused. "What did – no, I don't want to know. I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Daichi-san!"

"Sure."

It was the next day that Daichi sent him a message.

To: Oikawa Tooru

From: Daichi Sawamura

Message: I gave him your number. He said he would message you.

Oikawa felt his heart skip a beat and a smile broke onto his face.

To: Daichi Sawamura

From: Oikawa Tooru

Message: Thank you! J

Oikawa stared at his phone the rest of the day. Would Kuroo actually message him? Did he just say that because Daichi asked him? Maybe he thought it was weird and didn't want to bother with it. Who knows what he had heard about Oikawa from Karasuno.

It was later that night, when he was getting ready to go to sleep, when his phone lit up with a message. Oikawa practically dived toward it,

To: Oikawa Tooru

From: Unknown

Message: Is this Oikawa?

To: Unknown

From: Oikawa Tooru

Message: Yep! Is this Kuroo?

To: Oikawa Tooru

From: Unknown

Message: …it is. Daichi said you needed to ask me something?

Oikawa frowned. How was he supposed to do this? He hadn't really thought that far ahead. Should he just say Kageyama thought they had matching marks?

To: Kuroo

From: Oikawa Tooru

Message: Sorry, this is weird. Tobio-chan called me after your practice match and told me he thought your soulmark matched mine.

There. Nice and blunt.

Oikawa stared at his phone. Kuroo had replied to his other messages much faster than now. Either he thought this was some sort of joke, he was ignoring him, or he was just as shocked as Oikawa had been.

Maybe telling him through text wasn't the best plan.

To: Oikawa Tooru

From: Kuroo

Message: R U Serious?

Oikawa rose an eyebrow at the change in tone.

To: Kuroo

From: Oikawa Tooru

Message: I don't know for sure.

To: Oikawa Tooru

From: Kuroo

Message: Image attached

Oikawa took a deep breath as he clicked on the attached picture. There, on his screen, was the perfect mirror image on a tanned arm. It matched his own completely. With shaking hands, Oikawa quickly snapped a picture of his own arm and sent it. He fell back against his bed, his heart racing. Alright, so Kageyama wasn't mistaken. That was certainly the same mark.

He jumped up, staring at his phone, as his ringtone began to sound. He sucked in a quick breath as he saw Kuroo's name flash across the screen. He was calling him. Calling. Apparently, text messaging wasn't working for the other captain.

Frantically, Oikawa raised a hand to his hair, smoothing down the wayward strands and making sure it was laying correctly. It took a second for his mind to process what he was doing and he let out a nervous chuckle as he let his hand drop. What did it matter if his hair was a mess? It was a phone call.

He quickly grabbed his phone and pressed the answer key. "Hello?"

"So, the famous Oikawa Tooru is my markmate. Can't say I was expecting that," the voice on the other end of the line purred.

Oikawa let out a nervous laugh, "I can't imagine what you've heard, Kuroo-chan," he said a little nervously.

"Well, I'm hoping you don't eat the souls of children," Kuroo laughed, "that seems a bit extreme. But I have heard a few things about the Grand King."

Oikawa felt his face flush, "I guess you've been talking to chibi-chan."

"The shrimp has a lot to say," Kuroo agreed. Oikawa, who didn't even know what the man on the other end of the line looked like, could almost picture the smirk gracing his face. "Kenma and shrimpy struck up quite the friendship during our practice match. He's relaying information to me as we speak."

"Kenma?" Oikawa asked weakly. Who the hell was Kenma and what on earth could Chibi-chan have to say? He had barely even seen the boy at their practice game!

"My best friend," Kuroo answered. "So, you're Kageyama's sempai. Captain of Aobajosai. Killer serve. Amazing setter. Hmm."

Oikawa groaned. "Tell Chibi-chan to stop it!" he whined.

"Ohoho, what's this? A fan page dedicated to you? And you respond to it?"

"Stop it!"

"Pictures!" Kuroo said in delight, apparently finding the section on Oikawa's fan page. Oikawa jumped up quickly and ran to his own computer, pulling up the fan page various girls at his school had made. He moved to the picture section quickly, trying to pull off whatever he could.

It wasn't until he pulled off all of the photos he himself posted (he couldn't do anything about the ones others had added) that Oikawa realized the other end of the line had been silent for several minutes. "Are you still there?" Oikawa finally asked, terror rising in his chest. What if he had looked at some of the photos and decided Oikawa wasn't worth it? What if he thought he was too vain?

He heard a deep breath in his ear. "I think there was some sort of mistake," Kuroo finally muttered.

He knew it. He bit his lip as his hand gripped his phone. He might not know how he currently felt about the soulmate thing, but he didn't want his soulmate to reject him before they even got started!

"There is no way someone like you could be destined for someone like me," Kuroo continued, almost as if he was talking to himself. "Are these photos doctored?"

Oikawa felt the tension in his shoulders relax slightly. Was this a good thing? "I'm just naturally beautiful," he finally said, trying to test the waters slightly.

"That I can agree with," Kuroo said softly.

Oikawa let out a deep breath and let the rest of the tension drain from his shoulders. "Thank you, Kuroo-chan," he said softly. "Now, I need a picture in return."

"I don't think so," came the response.

Oikawa felt a pout take over his face, "That's not fair! You saw a picture of me!"

"You're the one with pictures on your own fansite," Kuroo responded. "I don't have that problem."

"But – "

Oikawa cut himself off as his phone dinged in his ear. Pulling it away slightly, he frowned when he saw a message from an unknown number.

To: Oikawa Tooru

From: Unknown

Message: His first name is Tetsuro (image attached)

He clicked on the image and sucked in a quick breath as he stared at the screen. The boy in the picture was sprawled across a bed, a phone pressed against his ear and a smirk on his lips. He was extremely attractive, his dark hair messy and apparently completely unstyled, with a lean body and wide shoulders. His eyes were almost cat like, a hazel gold color that was sparkling mischievously even in the picture.

"Oikawa?"

A smirk on his own lips, Oikawa quickly placed the phone back to his ear. "We have to do something about your hair, Tetsu-chan."

"Wh-" Oikawa just laughed as he heard Tetsuro chastising the mysterious Kenma.


End file.
